Thank you for sharing this so openly. Receiving a complex PTSD diagnosis later in life can bring both profound relief and understandable grief—for the years spent struggling without an explanation and for the child who carried such loneliness and anxiety without the support she deserved.

Your persistence in seeking understanding and healing for more than 40 years speaks to remarkable courage. I am deeply moved that the article, the experiences shared within, and the website have helped you recognise that the chaos and pain in your life were never evidence that you were at fault. They were understandable responses to experiences you did not choose.

As you enter this new phase of retirement, I hope this understanding allows you to meet yourself with greater compassion. Thank you for adding your voice to this community. You are seen, your experience matters and, most importantly, you are no longer alone. It’s a pleasure to connect, Isabell.

Thank you for sharing this painful part of your story. I am deeply sorry for the abuse you endured and for the immense physical and emotional burden you have carried since. Dissociation can be a powerful survival response when a child has no safe way to escape what is happening, but surviving does not mean the body and nervous system remain untouched. Living for decades with disabling symptoms, and without a diagnosis or recognition, must have been utterly exhausting and isolating. Whatever the precise interaction between trauma and your physical illness, the impact on your life is real and deserving of compassionate, informed care. It is a terribly high price to have paid for harm that was never your fault.

Complex PTSD can be especially exhausting after decades of surviving, adapting and remaining constantly alert to danger. Needing more support now does not erase the capable woman, nurse and leader you have always been, nor does it mean you have failed. It may simply reflect how much your mind and body have carried for so long.

I am very glad you have ongoing therapy, a trusted psychiatrist and a caring support network around you. Please continue letting that village support you, particularly when the fear, sleeplessness or sense of being unsafe becomes overwhelming. Your refusal to give up is powerful, and I’m sure you already know you don’t have to prove your strength by carrying this alone. Thank you for reminding others living with complex trauma that they are not alone or without value, even on the days when simply getting through the day takes everything they have.